How Natural Disasters affect Insurance Recruitment

​Australia’s unprecedented 2019-2020 catastrophe season has been named the country’s worst on record.

According to the Insurance Council of Australia as of October 2020, this recent season of natural disasters has caused more than 466,000 claims lodged with an estimated damage cost of over $6.75 billion. These natural disasters most often affect property and assets, resulting in insurers, brokers and claims service providers being temporarily inundated with claims volumes.

In additional to the usual season, 2020 has obviously surprised everyone with a global pandemic, which as of March 2020 the Insurance Council of Australia has declared an insurance catastrophe and the extent of claims are still unknown.

As Australia emerges from lockdowns and prepares for another summer, with it the next natural disaster season, there remains a sizeable gap between the demand for experienced claims staff and qualified candidates available. The ability to quickly recruit the additional staff required to effectively manage the significant increase in claims volumes when disaster strikes is crucial for insurance businesses in this climate.

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Candidates in the right location

Having assessment teams close to disaster scenes as soon as possible is paramount to speed up the process of helping individuals and businesses recover after an event. This means that when a natural disaster strikes, insurers often have had the difficult task of quickly recruiting local staff from a very small pool of qualified candidates.

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Candidates with communication skills

Communication skills are imperative for temporary staff, who not only have to communicate internally within the insurance organisation but also externally on behalf of the insurer to brokers, their clients, assessors, builders and repairers.0

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Candidates with teamwork skills

In the event of a disaster, teams who manage internal and external communications play a critical role in keeping the claimants informed on how the response is proceeding and keeping the public updated on response actions.

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Candidates with industry experience

Temporary staff with experience in the industry and knowledge of the insurance market are typically the most valuable to insurers. Claims Managers are generally the face of the customer experience at this time and as such should be skilled in delivering information and appropriate messages.

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With several recruiters who have worked hands-on within the insurance industry, we know how to source the most valuable candidates for our insurance clients, whether they are needed on a temporary, casual or permanent basis.

In preparation for Australia’s catastrophe season, our team of insurance specialist’s build and engage talent pools, ready for quick deployment to our clients’ businesses should a catastrophe strike.

If your business needs assistance hiring temporary employees next peak season, why not reach out to us here .